Family Devotional: Darkness Blinded Him

This page is our weekly Family Devotional. It is one page, built from Sunday's sermon, so the table sits with the same Word the pulpit preached. A parent can lead it cold. You do not need training and you do not need to prep. Use it as one ten-minute sitting, or walk it Monday through Friday as five short steps from the same page. There is no wrong way. One faith talk this week is a win. This week the table sits with Darkness Blinded Him, from 1 John 2:9-11. Sunday's Big Idea in plain words: a person can talk about the light and still be blind, because hatred has already done something to his eyes. You will sit with a dark hallway, a claim that did not help, and Jesus--the Light who opens eyes and sends us to our brothers and sisters. Pastor Anton This page can work two ways: as one ten-minute sitting at the table, or as five short Monday-to-Friday steps from the same page. There is no wrong way. This week's Big Idea A person can say he walks in the light and still be in the dark, because hatred has already blinded his eyes. Memory verse "Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness." 1 John 2:9 (ESV) 1. READ Read 1 John 2:9-11 out loud. Stay on this one passage all week. Monday: verse 9. The man who says he is in the light. Tuesday: verse 9 again. The word still. Wednesday: verse 10. The one who loves his brother remains in the light. Thursday: verse 11. He walks in the dark and does not know where he is going. Friday: verse 11 again. Because the darkness has blinded his eyes. 2. THINK John is not telling us to be nicer. He is showing us that hatred is a blinding that has already happened. Jesus said, "I am the light of the world." He came so that whoever believes in Him would not stay in the dark. Love for our brothers and sisters shows that His light has done its work. It is not how we buy the light. 3. TALK Pick the questions that fit your table. You do not need to ask them all. For young children: What happens if you walk through the house at night and never turn on a light? For school-age children: Why is saying "I am in the light" not the same thing as loving your brother? For teens: Where have you learned Christian words while quietly deciding you have no use for someone Christ calls your brother or sister? What would it mean to come to Christ the Light instead of managing that contempt? For the whole table: Who is one person we will ask God to help us love this week, and what is one thing love would actually do? 4. DO Do this: Name one brother or sister in the church you have walked past. Pray for that person by name at the table. Then do one concrete kindness for them this week (a message, a meal, a visit, a word). Another way to do this: Draw a simple picture of a dark hallway and a bright lamp. Write one person's name near the lamp. Ask God together to help you love that person, then place the picture where the family will see it. 5. PRAY Father, thank You that Jesus is the Light of the world, and that He came so we would not remain in darkness. Save our children. Give this family a real love for the brothers and sisters You have given us. Open any eyes hatred has shut, and keep us from managing contempt. In Jesus' name, Amen. One faith talk this week is a win.